DOCUMENT RESUME ED 312 515 CG 022 011 AUTHOR Keigher, Sharon M.; And Otters TITLE Relocation, Residence & Rise: A Study of Housing Risks and the Causes or Homelessness among the Urban Elderly. INSTITUTION Metropolitan Cnicago Coalition and Aging, fT..; Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor. School of Social Work. SPONS AGENCY Retirement Research Foundation.; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, New Brunswick, N.J. PUB DATE May 89 NOTE 114p.; A product of the Housing Risks of the Elderly Project. AVAILABLE FROMMetropolitan Chicago Coalition on Aging, 53 W. Jackson, Suite 1632, Chicago, IL 60606 ($15.00, includes shipping and handling). PUB TYPE Reports - Research/Technical (143) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC05 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Aging (Individuals); High Risk Persons; *Homeless People; *Housing; Incidence; Intervention; *Older Adults; Predictor Variables; Social Services; *Urban Population IDENTIFIERS Illinois (Chicago); Single Room Occupancy ABSTRACT Homelessness is (,.owing among the elderly as it is among every other age cohort in America, but the elderly appear to be underrepresented. This underrepresentation is puzzling, since the elderly appear to have unique vulnerabilities to homelessness. This study explored the connection between the growing shortage of low rent housing, the unique housing related problems of the elderly, and homelessness itself. A sample of seniors who had experienced serious housing problems was identified from persons who had been served by the Chicago Department of Human Services Emergency Services. Two "housing risk" samples (N=91) were identified: those who had needed temporary housing and those who had lived in deplorable conditions. These at-risk persons were compared with similarly aged low-income residents of Single Rooms Occupancy units throughout the city who had not necessarily experienced housing emergencies. The results indicated that: (1) shelter use by the elderly was usually very short-term; (2) a significant proportion of the elderly were vulnerable to loss of their homes;(3) factors that precipitate the loss of and incapacity to manage their homes included living alone and lacking social supports, diminished mental functioning, and very low income; and (4) there was a shrinking supply of low-income housing and scarcity of supported living environments. These findings suggest a need for more innovative and intensive outreach and service delivery to elderly persons before their housing condition or the effects of various losses force thorn to lose their residence also. (ABL) * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made I * from the original document. *********t******t**********************************t******wA*******k* c\1 RELOCATION, RESIDENCE & RISK: Ci"J A STUDY OF HOUSING RISKS AND THE CAUSES OF HOMELESSNESS AMONG THE URBAN ELDERLY FA, 11 44 SHARON M. KEIGHER, PHD (Principal Investigator) REBECCA HANSON BERMAN, PHD SADELLE GREENBLATT, PHD PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION MAT RIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Office of Educahonai Research and Imoroyernew EDU TIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (MCI May, 1989 NS document has been reOrOduce0 as recetvod from the Demon or Orgarntanon onprnalmo Mnor charges ha.e teen made to moro, Project period June 1, 1988 tc December 1988. reoroduchon Quahty TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES PorntS Of vele..., or OprmOniStatdnttnidoCu ment do not necessanly retpeSenl ofhrial Th- Housing Risks of the Elderly Project INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) GE RI 00smon or policy Metropolitan Chicago Coalition on Aging and the University of Michigan School of Social Work Support for this research was provided by grants from the Rcbert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Retirement Research Foundation. BEST COPY AVAILABLE RELOCATION, RESIDENCE AND RISK: A STUDY OF THE HOUSING RISKS AND CAUSESOF HOMELESSNESS AMONG THE URBAN ELDERLY Acknowledgements Executive Summary CHAPTER 1. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HOUSING PROBLEMSAMONG THE ELDERLY Purpose . 3 Methodology 3 The Client Study 3 The Study of SROs 4 Statistical Tests and Methodological Limitations 5 Organization of this Report 5 CHAPTER 2. OLDER EMERGENCY SERVICE CLIENTS ANDSRO RESIDENTS: CHARACTERISTICS, PROBLEMS AND NEEDS 7 Characteristics of the Emergency Service Random Sample 7 The Housing Problems of ES Clients 9 Placement in Shelters 11 Homelessness 11 Resources Make a Difference 13 Summary 14 CHAPTER 3. THE EMERGENCY SERVICE CLIENTS: COPING WITH THREATS TO OR LOSS OF A HOME 16 Coping Abilities of the Homeless 16 The One Time, Short Term Homeless 16 Josie Hicks: Homeless in Her Own Home 17 The Long Term and Repeatedly Homeless 20 Dana Kaczmarek: Avoiding "Intervention" While "at Home"on the Streets 20 Coping Abilities of the Never Homeless 24 Eugene Fuller: At Risk in His Own Home 25 Viola Cooper: Alone in a Dreary and Dangerous Apartment 26 Some Overall Themes 27 Summary 29 CHAPTER 4. SRO HOTELS: THE EFFECTS OF A SHRINKING HOUSING RESOURCE ON OLDER COMMUNITIES 31 Research Objectives 33 Sample Selection 34 Some Comparisons of Our Findings wish Hoch's 1985 Study of SROs 35 Seniors' Use of SROs as Scarcity Increases 35 Rising Rents 36 Variation in Demographics and Prevalence of Seniors 37 Prospects: Three Specific Locales Where Low Income Housing is Threatened 37 The Ecology of a Fire: Homelessness in Progress 38 Summary 43 cJ CHAPTER 5. SRO HOTELS: HOW THEY MEET THE NEEDS OF OLDER PERSONS 44 Why SRO Managers Seek (and Avoid) Senior Residents 45 Why and How Some Are Urged to Leave 46 How Seniors Remain in SROs as Their Needs Increase 47 Building Features That Complicate and Facilitate Daily Living 51 The Inaccessibility of Formal Services 56 Unmet Needs 57 Summary 57 CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS: THE NEEDS OF OLDER CHICAGOANS LIVING ALONE 58 Defining Homelessness 58 c Vulnerabilities of the Elderly to Homelessness ..,o.., Precipating Factors in Homelessness Among the Elderly 62 Aloneness and Loss of Social Resources 62 Diminished Mental Functioning 62 Very Low Income 63 Conclusions and Recommendations 64 Providing Consistent and Critical Assistance 64 Needs for Further Research 67 REFERENCES 70 APPENDICES 74 A. Methodological Notes B. Data Tables List of Tables 2.0 ES Senior cases sampled by district and type interviewed 2.1Problems occurring with need for shelter 2.2 Comparison of sub-groups of interview sample 2.3 Reason why shelter not used 2.4 Resources by whether or not ever homeless List of Figures 2.1 Map of Chicago Police Districts Acknowledgements Many people assisted with different steps in the implemNitation of this study. We gratefully acknowledge the careful and sensitive contributions of the following staff who helped with data collection, coding and interviewing:Elizabeth Davy, Dee Soustek, Nancy O'Neil, Irene Gooden, Mary Roman, and Sonya Chung. We also appreciate the contributions of Lisa Gooden who did data entry, Carol O'Grady who did mountains of typing, Laura Boyce who gathered data from the files of the Chicago Departmenton Aging and Disability, and Michael Ferry whose thoughtful photographiceye has enriched our work.Photographs in this report were done by Michael Ferry, Mary Roman and Sharon Keigher. Valuable technical consultation was provided by Madelyn Iris.The principal investigator is especially indebted also to Elisabeth Clemens and Kathryn Neckerman who provided not only special consultation but a home away from home for me for the past two years. This project could never have been done without the significant cooperation of the City of Chicago and several generous city officials.We are especially indebted to Eugene Love, Anderson Freeman, Ann Cousins and Joan Fabiano and their staffs at the Chicago Department of Human Servicesfor their extraordinary assistance in opening their files to our investigation and letting us choose a random sample of clients to study. This study would not have happened at all except for the interest of Renee Lumpkin and Rosmary Gemperle, and the support of William Rodak of the Chicago Department on Aging and Disability.Their agency's continuing support of this project over the past two years has been very appreciated.The Principal Investigator is especially indepted to the Gerontological Society of America whosePost Doctoral Fe llov ship program supported the pilot study conducteo in 1987. Our sincere appreciation is also extended to the regular staff of the Metropolitan Chicago Coalition on Aging who have been extraordinarily supportive of this work, and always good natured about the disruptions it caused to their normal operations.We are especially indebted to Ron El ling and Howard Blau who have been creative and enthusiatic about this projectsince its inception.And we ex' id very special appreciation to Beth Kutza, Charlie Hoch and Richard Douglass for their thoughtful feedback and encouragement throughout the life of this project. To them, and to all who have helped, we are grateful, while acknowledging that this final report reflects the position only of the authors who takefullresponsibilityfor any errorsin judgement or analysis. No agency or person named above is responsiblein any way for "ur findings or conclusions. Finally, we are allincalulably indebted to the older persons, some of whom are pictured in the following pages, who were interviewed for this studyon the streets and in their homes in Chicago. They have most generously shared with us their lives,their feelings and experiences--their pain, frustration, and sometimes desperation- -out of hope that the housing problems of other older Americans might somehow be solved.With the benefit of their wisdom, we now have insight into how housing and housing assistance in America could be provided in more humane ways. 0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Housing Problems of the Elderly Homelessness is growing among the elderly as it is among every other age cohort in America, but the elderly appear to be underrepresented. Recent studies show that persons over age 60 comprise anywhere from 2.5 to 9 percent of the homeless, while they are 15.6% of the general population.(Institute of Medicine, p.16-17). This underrepresentation is puzzling because the elderly appear to have unique vulnerabilities to homelessness. Elderly on ..,ced incomes are caught in a growing shortage of low-income housing.